Tŷ Coryton Children's Home

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:21 pm on 9 June 2021.

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Photo of Laura Anne Jones Laura Anne Jones Conservative 3:21, 9 June 2021

Thank you, Minister, for that statement. Some of our most vulnerable people in our society, children with autism, should be protected and cared for, not made to suffer in such vile circumstances as alleged in this case. There are some serious questions, and this must be now fully investigated by relevant authorities. There are a litany of shocking and troubling allegations against the staff at Tŷ Coryton, some of which I can't repeat, but on one occasion and most seriously, the restraint of a child was so badly managed that it provoked very serious concerns that that child might die. Whistleblowers report that all of these allegations were directly a result of staff interventions and point to a culture of mismanagement provoking challenging behaviour that falls way short of the high standards we expect for staff charged with such an important job. Are these allegations reflective of a systematic problem in Wales? Could other young children be suffering in similar ways? Action needs to be taken now, Minister, to resolve this.

I'm pleased to hear that the Minister will be publishing the long-awaited reducing restrictive practice framework, but this is far too late for these children's and, I fear, others. Can I impress upon her that that needs to be published now to prevent more young children suffering in this way? And can she also tell us what steps she's taking to provide advice and guidance for centres such as Tŷ Coryton, to ensure that they are providing a therapeutic environment as recommended by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities? Will the Minister also make sure that centres like this have the necessary resources that they need to ensure basic human decency and human rights can be maintained, such as providing sanitary items, a claim that was alleged that I found particularly disturbing?

I understand that the care inspectorate are about to publish a review into practices at Tŷ Coryton, but these alleged allegations certainly now call the veracity of that report into question. Is the Minister confident that these reports are conducted with sufficient rigour to highlight issues such as these, to ensure that they are addressed promptly? Will the centre and others owned by Orbis now be re-inspected to ensure that children in their care are properly protected?

Lastly, if there is a systematic issue here, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that the culture of reporting exists in the care sector in Wales and to ensure that staff have the support network in place and are comfortable enough with that to raise concerns and these reports are taken seriously and acted on, rather than them having to resort to the media, as in this case? Thank you.